Leaders of the European Union expect their signature of the new treaty in Lisbon yesterday will move the EU from a prolonged period of institutional introspection to a more active and effective engagement with the rest of the world. That is certainly possible if they do as they say.
The treaty equips the EU with many of the tools needed to deal more efficiently with global warming, economic globalisation, migration, development and social justice, international crime and world politics. That is what opinion polls show most citizens of the member states want to see happen by sharing state sovereignty to deal with common problems in a much more interdependent world.
If these powers are used properly the prolonged effort that has gone into tailoring this treaty for a greatly enlarged EU will have been worthwhile. As Taoiseach Bertie Ahern writes in these pages today, the treaty is the daughter of the constitutional document that fell after being rejected in the 2005 French and Dutch referendums. The 18 states which accepted that text agreed after a period of reflection to amend it by stripping out symbols of statehood and simplicity of access, while retaining most of the institutional changes brought in to allow the EU take decisions and act. Legally and politically it is different even if it addresses similar problems.
By reverting to a more traditional treaty, efficiency has been substituted for comprehensibility as the test of its acceptability and legitimacy. That is why all of them - with Ireland almost certainly the only exception - have decided to ratify the treaty by parliamentary means rather than referendums. Their political leaders believe effective action will in due course create public acceptability. It is a huge challenge, but an attainable one if the will is there.
Political leaders in this State now have an equally challenging task: to convince voters in next year's referendum that the treaty is acceptable and legitimate before its greater efficiency is demonstrated in practice. It is not surprising in these circumstances that Mr Ahern regrets losing the constitutional treaty's comprehensibility. The public merits of this far more complex document are much more difficult to demonstrate from its text alone. The key to winning the referendum will be in showing how it will allow the EU to tackle critical issues like global warming negotiations, United Nations peacekeeping tasks or promoting agreed foreign policies. These are fundamentally in Ireland's interests and the treaty maintains and allows us to extend our influence.
Most voters have very little knowledge of the treaty and what it is intended to do. They need to be informed about it through information campaigns, public argument and political debate. A referendum commission will be set up and a date set for voting. A lot is at stake for the political establishment favouring the treaty. They must convince voters it is worth supporting and that rejecting it would carry great costs for this State.